Get a good, straight, stave to start with, preferably Osage or yew; one that will not need any heat or bending to make a shooting bow.
There are already to many variables with selfbows then to add the risk inherent with heating the stave. My personal belief is most of US use more heat than we should, and a lot more than is needed. Looking back, I'm fairly certain my heat treated bows have close to a 5 to 1 higher ratio of failure when compared to those that never see a heat gun or steam. Twenty years back, before the internet allowed us to freely exchange bow building information, the success rate for the first time bowyer was a lot higher. Yes, I said higher. Then, the average newbie was told to be careful, take it slow, not to press the limits of the wood, and to give a little in performance in exchange for stability and durability, Basically, putting it in horse sense terms, most would be better off trying to build/breed a good mountain horse before trying to build/breed the next triple crown winner. My guess is if you were to ask those who have built over a hundred selfbows, 90% of them had made at least five successful bows before they attempted to use heat. They wanted to limit the risk and increase the probability of success.
Can you use heat and make a good bow the first time out? Absolutely! The odds of doing so are just lower... I believe considerably lower.
Topic: Just Can't Do It (Read 749 times)
